Dino card No. 1722 of 2,027

Styracosaurus

Say it: sty-RACK-oh-SORE-us

Name means: “spiked lizard”1

Ate: PlantsHorned dinosLate Cretaceous

Styracosaurus was a plant-eating dinosaur with a huge nose horn and long spikes around its neck frill. It lived in what is now Canada and the USA during the Late Cretaceous period, about 76 to 75 million years ago.1 2

Lived

84 to 72 million years ago4

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Alberta, Canada, and possibly the USA1 2

Food

Plants1 2

Length

5 to 5.5 m1

Weight

1.8 tonnes to 2.7 tonnes1

Height

1.8 m1

at the hips

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

How tall was it?

at the hips

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 2 cars

as long as 6 dogs nose to tailas long as 31 bananas end to endas heavy as 90 big dogsas heavy as 540 watermelonsabout as tall as a door

How big was Styracosaurus compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

cool stuff

Fun facts

The nose horn of Styracosaurus could be up to 60 centimeters (2 feet) long and 15 centimeters (6 inches) wide.1

Its frill had four to six long spikes sticking out, which is why its name means 'spiked lizard'.1

Scientists have found a bone bed with many Styracosaurus skeletons together, which suggests they may have lived in herds.1

Styracosaurus lived alongside other famous dinosaurs like the horned Centrosaurus, the duck-billed Parasaurolophus, and the tyrannosaur Gorgosaurus.1

The first Styracosaurus fossil was a nearly complete skull found in 1913 by Charles H. Sternberg in what is now Dinosaur Provincial Park in Alberta, Canada.1

A nearly complete skeleton of the same individual was collected later, in 1935, and is now on display in Ottawa, Canada.1

AI-made picture of Styracosaurus — An AI-made picture of how Styracosaurus might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Styracosaurus

?How big was Styracosaurus?

About 5 to 5.5 metres long and weighed 1.8 to 2.7 metric tons. It stood about 1.8 metres tall.1 2

?What did Styracosaurus eat?

It was a plant-eater (herbivore) that ate low-growing plants. It had a parrot-like beak and rows of teeth for slicing tough vegetation.2 1

?How many horns did Styracosaurus have?

It had one big nose horn and four to six long spikes on its frill. The number of frill spikes varied between individuals.2 1

?Did Styracosaurus live in herds?

Yes, scientists think so. A bone bed with many Styracosaurus skeletons together suggests they may have lived and died in groups.2 1

?What predators did Styracosaurus have?

Large meat-eaters like Daspletosaurus, a relative of Tyrannosaurus, lived alongside it and probably hunted it.2 1

?How fast could Styracosaurus run?

It was very slow. It walked on four short legs and probably could not outrun predators.2

?When did Styracosaurus live?

It lived during the Late Cretaceous period, about 76 to 75 million years ago.2 1

?Where was Styracosaurus found?

Fossils have been found in Canada (Alberta) and the USA (Montana). The first was discovered in what is now Dinosaur Provincial Park.2 1

Ask Rex about Styracosaurus

Rex only answers questions about this page. 3 questions a day.

Rex is an AI and can make mistakes. He runs on servers in the EU and questions are never saved. Never type your name or other personal things.

Myth buster

Myth: Some people think Styracosaurus used its frill spikes mainly for fighting predators.

Truth: Scientists debate the function of the horns and frill, but they may have been used for display to attract mates, for species recognition, or for defense, not just for fighting.1

For dino experts

Scientific name: Styracosaurus
Named by: Lambe 19134
Group: Horned dinos
Family / clade: Ceratopsidae4
Classification: Ornithischia > Ceratopsia > Ceratopsidae4
Age of the rocks: 84 to 72 million years (Campanian)4
Rock formations: Dinosaur Park4
Countries: Canada4
Fossil records: 10 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: Styracosaurus was named by Canadian paleontologist Lawrence Lambe in 1913, based on a skull found by Charles H. Sternberg in Alberta, Canada.1 3
Still debated: Scientists still debate whether another species, Styracosaurus ovatus, should be its own genus (Rubeosaurus) or just a different specimen of Styracosaurus albertensis.1

Where the facts come from

Styracosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
Styracosaurus | Natural History Museum (nhm.ac.uk)
PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
Styracosaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

Rex is hungry! Dino Wiki is a dad's project for his dino-loving son, free with no ads. Grown-ups can feed Rex a snack to help keep it online.Feed Rex